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Facebook's Oculus unit, which is reuniting its developers for the first time since the launch of the Rift virtual-reality device, is trying to reignite enthusiasm after shipping problems and a higher-than-expected price hurt the Rift's debut, said The Wall Street Journal. Without a hit game and facing rising competition in the VR space, the company is also coping with backlash against founder Palmer Luckey for his political views, the report added. At its conference this week, Oculus is expected to debut its Touch hand controllers for interacting with virtual objects, the report noted. Reference Link

Roth Capital analyst Darren Aftahi noted that recent bear reports, including one that surfaced yesterday, regarding MeetMe (MEET) contend that the company could be negatively impacted by spillover from Facebook's (FB) admission that it had been overstating time spent by its users watching video on its platform, but he does not expect Facebook's issue to have any impact on MeetMe. He also said that, contrary to bear assertions of bad reviews, MeetMe's app scores well relative to Tinder and Snapchat. The analyst keeps a Buy rating on MeetMe and sees pullbacks following short reports as buying opportunities.

10/03/16

BARD

10/03/16NO CHANGEBARD

Baird says impact on eBay from Facebook's Marketplace likely limited for now

Baird analyst Colin Sebastian said Facebook's (FB) launch of its long-anticipated peer-to-peer commerce platform, "Marketplace," came "much later" than he anticipated, but he still thinks Facebook is well positioned to compete in consumer shopping. Facebook's latest e-commerce effort will create headlines around competitive pressure, but Sebastian thinks Amazon (AMZN) and eBay (EBAY) will be "minimally impacted" in the near term given their scale, brand awareness, and much more advanced e-commerce capabilities. eBay may be most exposed, but the analyst also notes that 80% of its listings are new products, which may have limited overlap with Facebook listings.

10/03/16

BOFA

10/03/16NO CHANGETarget $150BOFABuy

BofA/Merrill remains positive on Facebook heading into Q3 report

BofA/Merrill remains positive on Facebook heading into the Q3 report based on strong engagement, pricing tailwinds, and advertiser growth. The firm's analyst rate shares a Buy with a $150 price target and sees potential for a Q3 beat.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster noted that after Facebook launched its new Marketplace offering on Monday that some users listed prohibited items, such as guns and drugs, that were not caught as they should have been by the company's filter. However, he views the misstep at launch as a "non-event" and thinks nothing has changed in term of Facebook's ability to build world-class products and go after new markets. Munster keeps an Overweight rating and $185 price target on Facebook shares.

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